Memoirs of Beijing

As of today, there’s 67 more days till Christmas. No more Halloween, let’s go straight to Christmas. This year’s Christmas items will be launched on November 8. Mark your calendars and choose from the items below for Christmas presents to your friends and loved ones.

My Starbucks Rewards VIP Night

Loyal customers will be given a chance to be one of the 500 people to get a first glimpse of the new Christmas merchandise. From now till October 31, MSR card members who would like to participate the VIP night must register online for a slot. On November 4, an SMS message invite will be sent to your registered phone which will be your ticket to the VIP night. Five hundred members of Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be pampered on the night of November 7.

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Now you don’t have any reason to miss your daily brew of Starbucks coffee as Starbucks Via is officially launched today in mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong Starbucks store. This instant coffee pack is filled with 100% roasted Arabica coffee. All you need to do is pour the packet in a cup, add hot water and stir to enjoy your coffee.

Coffee blends

For the initial launch in China, they introduced the Italian Roast and Columbia blends. The Italian Roast blend is perfect for coffee drinkers who like it black as it has a strong bold flavor. The Columbia blend flavor has just the right boldness and can be lessen if you pour in milk and sugar.

The Starbucks Via coffee packs can only be purchased in packs of 3 or 12. A pack of 3 costs RMB 25 while a pack of 12 costs RMB 88. From April 6 to 10, customers can try these Starbucks Via coffee for free at your nearest Starbucks store. Moreover, if you wish to purchase these coffee packs, you will be able to get 10% off on your purchase.

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My friend went back to Hangzhou during her birthday and told my avid Starbucks tumbler collector cousin about it.  She said she wanted the box set which consists of Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing.  She thought it was supposed to be one tumbler with all 3 names but I told her it was one tumbler each for Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing.  So, she ordered it from her friend and asked her to courier it over to Beijing.  When I received it, it was 3 tumblers of Hangzhou which my cousin has already.  So.. I’m putting it up for sale for the first 3 people who wanted it.  The cost of each tumbler is RMB 100 each.  It might cost more than the retail but they had to courier it to me from Hangzhou.

Photo Credit: Gold Tan

Dropped by again at the Starbucks near my home and they have the autumn and the Halloween collection already. I tried taking pictures with my camera-phone but it didn’t look good. So, I just downloaded the ones from their website and will post it here.

Let’s start with this year’s anniversary blend tumbler and mug (picture on the right). The tumbler design is brown in color with a mermaid. I’m not sure if this is available in other countries but my cousin has it already. They’re selling so fast so if you want one, you better grab one already!

Then we have the Autumn flower collection. The mugs on this collection has both painted and embossed flowers. I’m not a fan of the bluegreen color but the red one is ok. Also, it’s not as striking as the anniversary tumbler but if you’re into collecting, might as well buy one. Hehehehe!

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Starbucks in Beijing is almost in every corner like in Manila. They are usually overpriced but still steaming with people. I have two cousins who collect Starbucks items as a hobby. One of them collects city mugs while the other collects tumblers. They told me to keep them informed of any new mugs or tumblers or if I visit another city, to buy one if there’s a Starbucks there.

So.. how much does a Starbucks tumbler cost? RMB 95 or US$13.50 or Php617.50. Crazy right? But we each have our own fetishes. My cousin who collects tumblers has more than 40 of it already and she’s always checking the internet for new ones. So when I informed her that there are 6 new tumblers in Beijing, she asked me to buy 5 of them.

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